RISING HAWK – Cape Cod Academy’s Ned McCutcheon (3) takes it to the hoop during game play against Sturgis East Feb. 10 at CCA.

CCA boys best Sturgis East 70-56

The Sturgis Storm showed strength, but it was the Cape Cod Academy Seahawks that soared to victory Feb. 10, with the ‘Hawks defeating East 70-56.

The Storm took an early 12-10 lead after the first quarter, but the Seahawks owned the second, tallying 22 points to Sturgis East’s 13 to take a 32-25 lead at the half.

Sturgis appeared on the verge of a rally in the third, outscoring CCA 15-10, but a huge fourth quarter in which the Seahawks netted 28 points sealed the win for CCA.

Leading the way for CCA was the dynamic duo of Kyle Ryder and Johnny Hatem, who each scored 26 points for the Seahawks, with Ryder netting a trio of three-pointers, while Hatem had one.

Henry Zezze had 10 points for CCA, while Ned McCutcheon had five, including a three-pointer; Noah Holland had two and Aaron White one.

Jake Tobey was the top scorer for Sturgis East with 17 points, while Mitch Starr added 12 and Luke Chavalier 10. Kyle Coolidge had eight, Austin Rindfuss and Ian Brothers four each and Jonny Gomes one.

Both teams came up short later in the week, with CCA falling to Pope John Paul II High 65-53, with Sturgis East falling to Sturgis West 71-61 (see adjacent story). CCA stands at 11-5 as the regular season winds up, while Sturgis East finished at 7-13.

“The kids worked really hard,” said East head coach Mike Kennedy. “We played really well for three-and-a-half quarters, but we just put the ball up too quickly midway through the third and they just ran away with it.”

Kennedy was pleased with his team’s defense.

“As a team they had a really great effort,” he said.

CCA head coach Thomas Ferreira was pleased with his team’s performance against East.

“It was a great game and a great win for us after our loss to Nantucket on Saturday,” Ferreira said.

Ferreira also deemed the game a team effort.

“It’s always a team effort,” he said. “Everybody knows we have Kyle and Johnny, our scorers, but we need everybody to get involved for us to be successful.”

At press time CCA was slated to face South Shore Christian Academy, with the Seahawks’ final game of the season set for Feb. 19 at Nantucket.